2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Off the Shelf
Pritchett gets good grade for 'Melancholy Fate'
Jessie Burche
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Culture
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
Pritchett, Ph.D., spends much of his time grading stories his students write.
There are rules to writing in his class, which he tosses at you the first day. Then he says you can break them, but you better have a good reason.
For example, we, the reader, must support character motives because they involve something the character needs. The setting must be described in detail. We must know the thought processes of the main characters.
Pritchett's latest book, "The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis," does not break any of the rules, but doesn't feel formulaic either.
His approach to the book is unique. There are two main characters: Merriwether Lewis and Bill Lewis. Merriwether is, of course, of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition across the United States to find the all-water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Bill is a high school history teacher who is writing a book about Merriwether. It could get confusing, but it never does.
Both Lewis' suffer from depression. This link, among others, causes Bill to be obsessed with Merriwether. He even buys a gun, much like the one Merriwether carried on his expedition.
Pritchett has cyclical depression, this how he made Bill and Meriwether's depression so realistic in the novel.
"I've had my own struggles with depression and that's another reason why when I found out more about Lewis' story I really connected to it," Pritchett said. "Remembering times in the past when my depression was at its very worst was how I was able to write those scenes."
The characters' depression and the urgency it creates in their lives is completely believable. Bill's need to receive some kind of sign that he would be OK pressed on the reader.
Pritchett says never show a gun unless it's going to show up again and play a part in the novel, and it does later on.
Be the first to comment on this story